Don’t Stray into the Gray

There are millions of people in the world and each one is a free moral agent. So, as you can imagine, there are many different mind-sets and thought processes around this globe. Psychologists like to classify people into categories, and one of the ways they like to group people is by how they think, or process information. Now, as I stated before, each person has a free mind to think with, but there are similarities in how people reason. You can fit most people into some basic categories that define the way that they think. One of these categories is called the black and white thinker and in this article I would like to examine this concept of black and white thinking, and how it relates to eternal life.

Black and White Thinking

What do I mean by black and white thinking? Black and white thinkers view situations as only having two outcomes and those two outcomes oppose each other. People, who think in black and white terms, have a specific thought and decision making process. They are realists; they deal with facts and think in very logical terms. Herbert W. Armstrong is a classic example, when he was confronted with the theory of evolution, and his wife took up Sabbath keeping, he educated himself on those subjects. Not willing to accept these things at face value, he came to a factual, logical, conclusion as to whether they were true, or not. He embraced the Sabbath and rejected the false evolution theory; Mr. Armstrong was a black and white thinker. Let us take a look at a biblical example of black and white thinking: Deut 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

Gray Thinking

There are also Gray thinkers in the world. They tend to be more tolerant of different views. They are wishy-washy, or fence straddlers, they are indecisive and they believe that they are knowledgeable to make decisions without help from anyone. Now, why do you suppose that gray thinkers have such a problem with making decisions and accepting help? Looking at the two diagrams, there is a significant difference between the two other than the fact that the color is different.

When you remove the line dividing these two opposing forces, some of the good mixes into the bad, some of the bad mixes into the good and all of a sudden there is no right or wrong anymore. There just exists this gray area; there is no clearly defined right or wrong. So, just what is wrong with gray thinking anyway? Well, frankly, gray thinking will cause you to lose out on eternal life. In Matthew there is an example of both types of thinking; the bold comments are mine.

Matt 19:16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" 17 So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." (Black and white decision)18 He said to Him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, " 'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,'  19'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' " 20 The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?" 21 Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Gray decsion)

God Thinks in Black and White

God thinks in black and white terms. What did Christ tell the man in the scripture we just read? “But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." What situation confronted Adam and Eve?  They had a choice between the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When Christ called his disciples, he told them “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Entering the kingdom of God is a black and white proposition. You will either enter the kingdom or you will not, there is no gray area, no second chances.

 God is not pleased when we slip into the gray area of thinking. Moses had already decided that he was not going to go before Pharaoh. He tried to use his poor speech as reason to shirk the job that God had for him to do. I will send Aaron, your brother, with you to do the speaking God told him. What about Jeremiah? He told God I am just a child, I cannot speak. God said you shall go wherever I send you and you will speak whatever I tell you to. And there was also Jonah, he did not want to go to Nineveh, so he decided to run away on a ship. After three days and nights, in the belly of a fish, he decided he was ready to do God’s will. All of these decisions involved gray thinking. Now what is the significance of gray thinking for us? Gray thinking will keep you from inheriting eternal life.

Hot, Cold or Lukewarm

            Matt 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'            These people are in the Gray area, they profess Christ but, there is no commitment, they still do as they please. Notice what Christ says here “Not everyone shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that does the will of my Father.” Black and white, you either do God’s will or you do not.

            Rev 3:1414 "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked-- 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

            Hot, or cold, is equal to black and white. Lukewarm is equal to the gray area and the gray way of thinking. These people have one foot in each area, but will not firmly commit themselves either way. Christ has more respect for those that are cold for him than he does the gray thinkers, they will be spewed from his mouth. Many have lost the sense of urgency, they once felt, about the return of Jesus Christ to this earth. Christ is coming again, it could be tonight, or tomorrow, or five minutes from now. We better be committed, we better be doing God’s will and we better be prepared.

            The Bible is clear, the way into the kingdom is here in black and white. Let us examine one final scripture. There is an unpleasant fate that awaits those that do not enter into the kingdom. Mal 4:22 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves. 3 You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this," Says the LORD of hosts.

 I wonder, have you ever taken the time to notice that ashes are gray?

All references New King James Version